Temperate glacier time response from field data

Abstract The relationship of glacier response due to mass-balance changes is of fundamental importance when climate variations are to be understood. In this paper, two aspects of the problem are analyzed from field data: (1) advance/retreat of the glacier terminus due to changes in mass balance, and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Glaciology
Main Authors: McClung, D. M., Armstrong, Richard L.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1993
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000015987
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000015987
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Summary:Abstract The relationship of glacier response due to mass-balance changes is of fundamental importance when climate variations are to be understood. In this paper, two aspects of the problem are analyzed from field data: (1) advance/retreat of the glacier terminus due to changes in mass balance, and (2) cross-correlation of mass-balance data from two glaciers in the same climate zone. The results show: (1) the terminus can respond quickly in accordance with expected minimum time-scale, and (2) two glaciers in the same general climate zone may have very different yearly mass balance and advance/retreat behaviour. This latter result indicates the importance of local climate variations.